The King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Municipality council has welcomed the support given by the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) to assist the municipality to address the precarious waste management challenges that have engulfed it for a long period of time.
The support from SALGA follows the commitment made by the municipal leadership to intensify efforts to redress the current cleanliness challenges.
“Even with our efforts as an institution, we could not really achieve all the targets set, and the support from SALGA will ensure that all the targets set are achieved with limited challenges,” said KSD municipal manager, Ngamela Pakade.
“The municipality has had initiatives such as green deeds in partnership with other government departments, entities, and private sectors to turn around the current challenges relating to waste management.
“This initiative was to turn around the negativity that has been portrayed, such as Mthatha being the dirtiest town in the country, albeit as ill-informed as this statement was.”
The SALGA intervention outlines short and long-term strategies to be implemented to realise the goal to have a cleaner city and subsequently implement the Kigali Model as endorsed by the municipal council.
Part of the strategies identified by SALGA include:
- The capacitation of waste management services for efficiency and effectiveness;
- The municipality to prioritise waste management as it is one of the biggest revenue sources; and
- To strengthen the enforcement of waste management by- laws to curb lawlessness.
Additional to the support by SALGA, the Kigali Model as adopted by council will be used as a guiding principle for both parties for the purposes of the comprehensive waste management plan.
The municipality has been on a drive and was very proactive in clearing all illegal dumping sites, in the beautification of public spaces and the revamping of public ablution facilities in Mthatha and Mqanduli towns.
Moreover, numerous weekly clean-up campaigns have been conducted with the aim of lobbying stakeholders and communities to play an active role in mitigating the challenges of waste management and in keeping our cities and nodal areas clean at all times.
